Facing 18-Year Sentence, Nadiem: I Never Regret Joining the Government

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbudristek), Nadiem Makarim, admitted that he does not regret ever joining the government, even though he is now facing an 18-year prison demand in the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops.

“I never regret joining the government,” Nadiem said after the prosecutor’s demand reading session at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday (13/5/2026).

“Even if I fail, the risk of failure, the risk of going to prison, I will take it because Indonesia’s future is more important than all these risks,” he stated.

Nevertheless, Nadiem admitted to feeling heartbroken over the legal process that now ensnares him.

“I’m heartbroken, I’m devastated. A person only gets heartbroken if they love the country,” he said.

“That the state can do this to me after all my service, yes, I’m heartbroken,” Nadiem added.

However, he emphasised that this disappointment does not make him lose his love for Indonesia.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t love this country,” he continued.

“My hope and the hope of many people at this time is for an acquittal. But the opposite happened, the heaviest punishment was thrown at me,” he concluded.

Nadiem is being demanded with a 18-year prison sentence and a fine of Rp1 billion in the prosecutor’s demand reading session at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court today.

“(Requesting the panel of judges) To impose a sentence on the Defendant Nadiem Anwar Makarim therefore with a prison sentence of 18 years minus the period the Defendant has been in temporary detention, with an order for the Defendant to be immediately detained in a State Detention House,” the prosecutor stated while reading the demand.

In addition to the prison sentence, the prosecutor also demands that Nadiem pay a fine of Rp1 billion. If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with a prison sentence of 190 days.